88 pdays left

Hey Family,
Well its been a crazy week, really busy. First off Ill answer your questions, I have been reading my scriptures everyday. We have an hour every morning so I read for 30 minutes then write in my study journal. Then we do a companionship study for nother hour. Antonia Lagioia accepted his baptismal date, he is being baptised this saturday, i convinced him to get the elders quorum pres to do it, because he is a great guy. And I will be confirming him on Sunday in Sacrament. Then when he gets the preisthood his son will be baptised, and his wife is already, but she is less active. But she is active now that he is baptised. Well last wednesday night after talking to yall we got a phone call from the pres of the branch. They had an "amercian" activity which was like a sldieshow and food. But they wanted us to cook. So we figured sisters could bake and we could make root beer from concentrate with ice cream floats. Thursday morning he calls us and says he just bought a 30pound turkey..and guess whos cooking it..us. 4 elders who eat pasta everyday... So we called the office and found out how to make one..then the other half of the battle, trying to find an over double the size of every oven in Italy. Wefound one, the sisters have a sweet house with a huge oven. So we cooked the turkey, which turned out amazing, brownies and cookies all that. It turned out great. The relief society pres apoligised for yelling at us. She flipped out at us because she thought we were wasting everyones time cooking a turkey. She doesnt like mossionaries very much. Anyways, it was a good activity. Sunday we all went to sleep in the afternoon, because last week was intense we were so busy. When I was writing the email last week I was falling asleep. Yesterday we went to the beach with the branch for pday. It was a pretty cool activity. Anotnioa Lagioa got realy into it, he was bbqing for everyone. It was fun. Yesterday was Italys liberation day so it was quiet and everything was closed. Monday we met with this less active guy..he walked up to us on the street the other day, we thought we was crazy. But we met with him, and it turns out I think hes just lonely. So well probably be meeting with him once a week for the rest of the transfer. Ok I didnt send the pictures yet because I wanted to get a few postcards to send to you os some of the sights around here. So I did Monday and I will send the CD today..and try to send a few pictures again now. After the American Activity on friday night it didnt end until 10 so we were home late. Then we tried to put the key into the doory and it didnt work. The lock was busted..so we spent 30 minuted trying to break into our apartment. Neilsen went through the neighboors and climbed onto our balcony but we had all the windows locked. So we just got that fixed today…85$ later for a lock. When we were boxing sunday night I met started talking to a guy who seemed pretty interested, I think hell be coming to church sunday. So thats was pretty cool. We actually met some kids to and theyve been coming to english course which is cool. Living so close to the beach and ocean..its nice because of the breeze, but tempting to jump in. Im proud to here you two have been studying every morning, Im sure you have seen the effect it has had on you life already everyday. Keep being diligent, and you learn to love them more. I cant believe may ius almost over..next time I talk to you I will have been out 5 months. Its crazy.

Well Take care,
I love you all,
Anz Costa

89 pdays left

Well it’s been a good week, I didn’t get transferred neither did my comp. But we spent all morning tying to find the other anzianos comp on the island...the bus was 45 mins late and we were 10 minutes late picking him up…so we didn’t know weather it had come or not. Anyways, ahah about pasta and salad...I guess that’s the problem I eat both, but I haven’t gained any weight since I got here, but I guess I’m getting chubby ahah I don’t know you all can tell better then I can. Well I don’t know if I told you but my first week here I tracked into a guy while boxing, and me and my comp have been teaching him since. Last Friday I asked him if he would like to set a date for baptism and he said yes, surprisingly. He’s met with missionaries before but never felt ready. Anyways so last Saturday night he asked me to baptize him, he broke down crying which is pretty rare for an Italian to do in front of anyone. I’m really happy for him and if he can quit smoking things will go forward. Although I am going to try to talk to him about somebody else doing the baptism. I would love to and will if he really wants me to, but I think if we can get him some friends in the church and get someone else to do it he would be much better off in the future. So that has been the big news for the week, I’ve been calling him 4 or 5 times a day seeing if he’s smoked, he was doing really well, but these past 2 days have been really hard for him. Well tonight we organized a soccer game with some in actives, which should be fun. The weekend was pretty good we ended up teaching a guy pretty much most of satrday morning, and then into siesta. He had a friend over to so we were teaching with them both. As usual his friend was so surprised we weren’t Jehovah’s. Today we dropped off Anz Clayson who lived with us, he’s done the mission, his parents are picking him up in Catania and then they’re going to do a gyro of where he’s served. They’ll be coming back here for Sunday Sacrament. Des ahah Ill be shaving my head probably today so Ill send a picture, they don’t really enforce the short hair but I’m still doing it Dad. Sunday we had a missionary sacrament so we all gave short talks…really short because they thought they could squeeze in 6 missionary talks into 1 hour...Monday we had a little fairwell for Clayson Ill be sending a few pictures again today. One of them by the stairs I will forward after this, it is our whole district here in Siracusa, it’s a pretty good picture of us all. Sunday night boxing went REALLY well, we were really just trying to advertise our English course but I ended up handing out a few dozen billetini and almost 10 new people showed up which is really good.

We heard about the Virginia Tech shooting, we saw it in a paper in the grocery store it looked pretty intense...the newspapers are a lot more graphic here then what they are probably showing you all there. Last night after English course we went to the elders quorum pres's house and made hotdogs and fries ...ahah it was pretty funny eating the here. This will probably be my last transfer in Siracusa, I doubt they will keep me here for 3. That or my comp will go and ill leave at 4. The weather is beautiful its getting hotter and hotter but it still gets pretty chilly at night. Boxing last sunday night was pretty cold. I probably wont be writing you all next Wednesday because well be switching our pday. There is supposed to be a ward activity by the water were supposed to go to. And I guess we cant get out of it, but there is a whole lot of point in the missionaries going, because its warm and its the beach…and its Europe…so its probably not to missionary friendly ;). So well see when it happens. umm the language has really improved this week, we spent a night with a family and I was really practicing with them
I understand and can speak but Sicilians all have different accents and some speak SO fast its hard to separate words but its coming…slowly. Wellllll that’s about it for now , I hope your all doing well
I love you all thank you for all the supports
Anz Costa

90 pdays left

Well, I just wrote you all an email but the computers all froze and I lost it so I will start again. Ok Well I got a new email because mylds mail is really annoying and slow. So I got this so I can also send a few pictures of my weekend. Well yes Mom, I’ve been writing in my journal, almost every day since I’ve been here. I was reading a few entries yesterday and it was funny to read about my thoughts when I first got here, now it feels and smells like home. The language is going pretty well, I can communicate its just understanding that is a bit more of a challenge, because they slur a 3 or 4 words into 1 word so its’ hard for my brain to separate it into separate words. Spiritual growth. I don’t know I guess I can see a difference since I walked into the MTC, but I have a long way to go. Its good to here you are both working really hard, hearing that makes my days worth it here. Well you Easter sounded better then mine ahah We went to the Giubelisco's home. They are a great family, with a lot of family that don’t like missionaries a whole lot. Brother G.'s sister and her daughter pretty much sat on the balcony and smoked the whole time unless they had to come into eat. My comp felt pretty awkward, I was talking to the daughters boyfriend, I was really making him feel uncomfortable which was kind of funny, but I think he realizes were normal 20year old dudes..and were not Amish. All in all it was pretty good though. We left really drained so when we went boxing sunday night we were pretty wiped out. Monday was a fantastic day. One of our investigators and the elders quorum pres are really good friends. They’re both young…around 30. Anyways we all went up to Brother Pisannas (Elders Pres) cottage which was actually just a garden shed with a table inside…and a big field. But we had a great time. We taught them how to play football, then we played some soccer and basketball. We were covered in mud by the end of the day, it was a great time. My comp was sooooo sun burnt he was really red. Then they took us to the beach, we cant go in but we through the football around, the Italians thought it was awesome to see American football being played. The were laughing but for once not at us…with us more, just enjoying it. It was really nice to be normal for a day and be able to talk to people without them having them be defensive. I cant believe Jordan is getting ready to finish up..he’s got like what 5 months left..brians going on a year..Dan I guess 6 months or so...me 3 and a half. Its pretty crazy, it goes by fast, Tilini just wrote me an email saying how fast it goes by. I miss that dude. I m going to send another email with pictures from Pasquetta (monday). I am going to try to get a cd burned this week but the member is in Germany, and I use his computer to do it. We’ve been doing a lot of advertisement this past week for English course, because we give a spiritual thought at the end which counts as a lesson. And we get one investigator out of the last course. Last night me and another elder did scambi..or exchanges I guess you would call it..and we went with a guy from English course last night to his house. We taught him a quick lesson and basically just chilled with him for an hour before we had to be home. Its hard to see people that are actually interested in the gospel sometimes, because a lot just want to be American. So they like to hangout with us.

Oh, next week if I do get transferred I may not be able to email you until Thursday or maybe not until the week after. But I doubt I’m getting transferred until the one after this one.

Love,
ANZ Costa

91 pdays left

Ahaha All you see deer’s all we see is tray dogs, they’re everywhere. I got to see conference its all 8hours ahead here. So p-hood session was Sunday morning...and the Sunday night session we got a member to tape and we watched it for District Meeting. It was really good. They rededicated the Tabernacle, and had some really sweet talks. Check it all out when you can its all on LDS.ORG AND BYUTV.COM . On the BYU TV website you can see this world report about the church. Des try and find it and show mom and dad. The church is really growing, were taking over, and you can really see it’s the latter days. PBS.org should have a show coming up to called 'the Mormons', try and search for that. The church allowed a world renoun director to do a documentary. I can’t watch it but it’s sounded good. I actually do need two things. I need some deodorant. No dad not because I’m cheap. But because they don’t sell anti persperant...so you still smell..you just sweat less. So if you could send me some Gillette stuff that we buy at Costco that would be great. And if you could send me 1 or 2 of the 'accounting books' to. Mine is almost full. So if you could send them to Anz. N Costa Via Corsaro, 84 (Parco Inglese) 905030 Sant Agata Li Battiati Italy it’s the mission home. and I might get transferred so itll be easier to send it there. That would be great though because I don’t want to smell like...everyone else here ahaha just joking. Well Monday night we took a train up to Ragusa for Zone Conference. I had to give quick talk. Because I’m the new greeny. And then Pres Colton gave a presentation. Then we chilled for the afternoon. We rented that movie Happy feet....it was interesting. And we played some cards to. Then last night we to the train back and got in around 9...then we had to walk home. Ragusa is up in the mountains. So the town is a huge hill that you hike up to get to the apartment. I can’t believe I’ve been out 3 months to...it feels like it when I think about it. But it’s gone by fast. Our Mission made it in the Liahona which is the ensign out here. For a service project they did. That book my Elder Ballard sounds good, itd be pretty hard for us to get it. I met him in the MTC. So when you were in the States did you see the Bazooka? Dad you should get one...you could hunt cars or something. We haven’t done a lot in the past few days because all weekend was basically spent at the church for conference. With like an hour or 2 in between sessions. And then so far we’ve been in Ragusa all week. The weather is really nice, it’s getting warmer. Yea I definitely notice the grow in width ahaha. No its not that bad ..I’m still around 180. I still work out, and we eat as healthy as we can. Theirs fruit vendors everywhere so I usually get a red orange and some bananas or something pretty often…and of course a gelato. Easter is huge out here with all the Catholics. We had Jehovah’s hitting up our apartment…imagine the surprise when we one of us opens the door. ahaha they were taken back. They’ve got some big show they’re doing. I’ve been learning about the...I respect how hard the spread the word but they’re kind of crazy. The other churches all have flyers they’re putting out to for the holiday. A lot of businesses have closed for the whole week for Easter. Well...I think that’s about it for now. We’ve got a really busy day today. Were meeting with an investigator tonight at 8. Transfers are in like 2 weeks today, hopefully Ill stay here...and my comp will go ahaha just joking..somewhat Love you all Anz Costa

1st week in Italy

Well I’ve been in Sircusa for about a week now. Its basically been pouring rain since the night I got here. Up until today, which had been beautiful so far. So we’ve been coming home for the Siesta and putting our suits in front of a fan until we leave again. We leave our house at around 10am our time after our studies and getting ready for the day. Southern Italy still has a Siesta so we don’t leave the house unless we have an appointment, because everyone is napping or eating. So it’s a good time to study. Then we tract or go to an appointment until 8ish when everyone eats dinner, because no one answers the door if they’re eating. Same thing at 12, they start cooking and they don’t usually answer, or they getting changed to go out to eat. Food is huge hear, Sunday night we dropped by a members house at about 8 on the way home and they right away pull out pans and start cooking us dinner. Same thing after church Sunday, everyone wants to feed us. Friday we had a dinner appointment with the Caggegi family, they fed us a typical Italian meal, pasta for the appetizer (huge bowl) meat for the main course and then 2 desserts. We don’t get that many dinner appointments which is kinds of nice because it end up take up a lot of time, and we already don’t have a lot of time to tract. Not that tracting really accomplishes a lot most day but we still need to do it. The people are patient which is great. Even then they don’t have any interest in the church they usually respect and appreciate what were doing, so they listen for a few minutes. We had a lesson Monday night with Marcello, we watched a movie with the President Hinckley and then bore testimony, he could feel the spirit strong, he ended up leaving the room because he was crying. So were going to go play soccer with him tonight and then hopefully set up a baptism to. Sunday was fantastic because it was basically a stake conference. So I got to see Tilini, which was great its strange how you can bond with some people. Our apartment is really nice, 3 bedroom, big, kitchen and a big living room. It’s a small one for Italian apartments but pretty big nonetheless. Everyone lives in apartments and they all look really ghetto from the outside, but when they open the door its sooo nice. They have the nicest furniture all real wood, marble, and paintings, etc. So Sunday will be my first real Sunday in my branch. I’m giving a 5 minute testimony-talk...I don’t know where the slash key is so I put a dash. People are over all pretty friendly. We went up to the sea Saturday night to tract which was pretty sweet, it was more like an ocean from all the wind and storms weve had. Italian is coming along slowly, eveyone has different way of speaking so sometimes its hard to understand. What’s really great is the people that yell at us or make comments are usually speaking in Sicilian dialect so we have no idea what they’re saying, so its easier just to smile and say buona serra. My companion is good, we get a long pretty decent. But because we live with another companionship it evens out. There’s a few letters waiting for me at the mission home so if it was any of you I haven read it yet, but I will get them Saturday. People don’t really paint their apartments here, usually like a cream or a white. We teach an English course every Tuesday and Thursday night at 8 to 9, which keeps us busy. Were really blessed in this mission the Siccialian lifestyle is really relaxed, and I have no idea how missionaries elsewhere tract all morning and all afternoon then all night. It’s harder then it seems to do. One older lady let us in last week, I think she was lonely more then anything but we talked to here about America and Canada for a few minutes. The food is pretty good, the pizza is good the Gelato is amazing, and its like 1.50 but a huge scoop and cone. Pizza is like 2.50 at most for a pizza the size of the hotnreadys and little Caesars. UMMM everything is good here. Everyone thinks were Testimony di Jehovah (J.W) which is a lot of the reason most people don’t listen. So we hear that a lot. People really like trying out there English with us to which is cool. The pasta is better and the fruits for sure but so far nothing like AMAZING. But were lucky some missions all they eat is beans and rice. Were a walking mission but people stop and give us rides frequently, even if they don’t know us. I asked a guy Saturday night who had the best pizza, and he was just like ummm where do you live and then he was like get in and drove us to a place by our house…apartment. I can’t believe how cold it was, that’s pretty brutal. The coldest its been here is plus 6 one night. I think Monday night. Anyways I will write more next week, this week has been a bit of a blur, and everything goes by so fast. Well I love you all,
Ti Amo
Anz, Costa

1st days in Italy

Hey everybody, well I got in yesterday at the Mission Presidents house they took us out for gelato. Then we took a 2 hour nap and had some interviews. We attempted to go to bed early but by the time we looked up it was 1030. Well like I told Dad I’m in Siracusa , I got on the Bus this morning at 12 and came here. Met my trainer Anziano Yearsley, we get a long pretty well. He’s been out for over a year from Colorado and Texas. Well today I did my groceries and then went to a few other stores. Everything so far tastes really good, we got ground beef earlier, which they actually put through the grinder right in front of you. It was pretty sweet. And then I went back to the apartment and unpacked all of my stuff. Our apartment is pretty big. We have 2 other Anziani that live in there. And we got a pretty big living room in it to. The mission home is really nice. Its 4 floors, 5Bathrooms, a bunch of bedrooms and the mission office is in the basement. Things are different but not really that different from what I had expected. The address for my place is:

Via Polibio, 17
96100 Siracusa (SR)
Italia

So I will be there for a while. The mission pres will be sending you pictures today from yesterday after 24hours of flying, when we all looked and were pretty mashed up from sitting on planes all day. The Branch were in is supposed to be pretty strong and actually has a decent amount of people in it, which I wasn’t expecting. We kept hearing in the MTC that we would probably be in like a few member branches, which will probably happen eventually. President Colton was telling us that there are branches were they have elders as councillors and branch presidents. Anyways I will have more time to write next week, we get an hour here instead of half an hour. So I will write to everybody then. Talk to you all later, Love Anziano Costa

An Update

Nathan call us all from the airport today on his way to Italy. He is doing well and is looking forward to going to Italy. But not too excited. He was going to be getting a big mac and some candy bars before leaving for Italy. He said he may also send some stuff home when he gets there. It's the longest flight he has ever been on and is travelling with 2 elders and 3 sisters to Italy.

He's not sure when the next time he will be able to write but he wil try for next week. He said he has gained 21 pounds and is hoping to loose some weight when her gets there. Nathan also said he would like to get some nice ties in Italy apparently some return missionaries have come back with like $2 ties that would retail here for around $50.

He's not sure when the next time he will be able to write but he wil try for next week. He said he has gained 21 pounds and is hoping to loose some weight when her gets there. Nathan also said he would like to get some nice ties in Italy apparently some return missionaries have come back with like $2 ties that would retail here for around $50.