Dec 23 Christmas party and conference

He said it has been really cold and rainy there for the past month but that’s good because it makes it feel more Christmassy!

They had a Christmas party with the branch that was really fun. He had to leave early to catch the bus to Catania for the Christmas Conference at the mission home. He rode the bus from 11pm to 6am the next morning to get there. All the missionaries he served with in the MTC were invited to this conference and they were all so happy to see each other again! He said it was great to have the whole (MTC) district back together again!

The Mission President’s wife S.lla Toronto made a pasta and salad lunch for them and he said she made sure they had the salad, not just the pasta! Lol

After the zone conference portion they had sports time which he said was really fun and the coolest part was President Toronto (his Mission President) who used to play for BYU, played basketball with them. Anz. Nielsen thought that was really cool and fun!

Then they had a delicious homemade American Christmas dinner with turkey, stuffing, gravy, cranberries, rolls and pumpkin pie! Then they sang Christmas carols together, watched a Christmas movie: “The Nativity Story” and heard testimonies from missionaries going home after that transfer.

The next morning they had waffles and S.lla Toronto shared the story of the 4th Wiseman. He said the mission home was all decorated with Christmas and it was awesome. There were about 20 Elders and Sisters and he said it was such a great conference!

After returning to their area they had an unexpected lesson when a good friend from their English course invited them over for lunch and they read from Luke 2 talked about the reason for the season and the family said they really liked having the Spirit in their home.

He said “This time of the year is such a great time for missionary work! I love it! THE CHURCH IS TRUE! Jesus LIVES! I am so happy to be here as a missionary spreading His gospel! It rocks!!”